Having some deep thinky thoughts about how our speech patterns are an amalgamation of the people and places weâve been around -- the way I say "coffeeâ outs my geographic region of origin, I sometimes wheeze laugh like my father, I react with âthatâs fairâ because of one of my college roommates, I say âbuckwildâ like my chosen fam, I bid people goodbye with âtake careâ the way a beloved professor often did, even the term âthinky thoughtsâ as used above has entered my lexicon thanks to new friends. We consciously and unconsciously mimic othersâ speech habits to lessen the social difference between communication partners and to show that we like them (look up accommodation theory if you wanna learn more). Something something our idiolects are kaleidoscopes of those whoâve touched us.
